
the SCENE
January 1, 2021
30 31
the app, and if their city is on lock-
down, they won’t be able to leave
without scanning. If you want to buy
something, it is sensed by the govern-
ment with the QR codes. ere are
side eects to this, though. If there is
a city with few cases, if someone tests
positive, then everyone on the inter-
net will know exactly where that per-
son has been. ey have no privacy,
and it seems a bit crazy to me.
CE: How did you choose Math +CS
and PNP?
HZ: I’m not that interested in empir-
ical sciences like Biology and Chem-
istry. I’m more interested in formal
systems. If you’re asking me to mod-
el the syntax of the whole world, or
to develop a theoretic structure of a
eld, those are questions that inter-
est me. I’m also fascinated by the way
people think. I like studying ques-
tions like: Why do people move from
modernism to postmodernism? Why
do paintings look like this? I’m taking
the linguistics path in the PNP major
because I’m interested in language
too. I mentioned that I like formal
systems. It’s inspiring to me to treat
our mind as a formal system itself.
For example, how is a dog represent-
ed in our mind? How does our brain
know that something is a dog and not
a horse. Combining Math+CS with
PNP is a good way for me to study
formal systems while also geing the
chance to study how people think.
CE: What’s it like taking two majors
and a minor?
HZ: It’s ne for me. I take one course
for each department of my majors,
so it’s never too much of the same
thing. If I feel like I’m geing tired of
one area I can easily turn to another
area. I still have plenty of free time
to hang out for my friends. I sing in
the choir and I’m in the philosophy
and Japanese society clubs. Obvi-
ously I’m Chinese but I’m still very
interested in Japanese culture. I have
a lot of respect for Japanese culture
and I’m interested in studying it. We
get to make sushi and study their lan-
guage. I used to be in badminton and
table tennis clubs, but not this year
because of Covid. Overall, though,
taking two majors hasn’t been too
rigorous.
CE: What makes you want to take a
gap year or semester at some point?
HZ: It’s denitely due to Covid. I
much prefer in-person meetings and
classes, so by taking some time o,
I’m making sure that I still get plenty
of time to have a normal college ex-
perience. Also, I’m taking two majors
and have explored many academic
elds, so by taking a gap year I get to
have more time to nd out what area
ts me best. Finally, since I’m Chi-
nese, a gap year would give me time
to do some volunteer work in Amer-
ica and get a beer feel for what the
US is like outside of college.
What was it like over the pandemic?
HD: I was. It was hard being home. I
love being home, and I love my fam-
ily, but I think our relationship has
ourished since I’ve been in college
and had the chance to live and grow
on my own. So over quarantine, I was
sharing a room with my lile sister,
and I always had to get permission
from my parents before doing cer-
tain things. Some of my friends invit-
ed me on a road trip, and if I was at
school I would go in a heartbeat and
call my parents aerwards, but since
I was living at home I had to get their
permission to go, and they wouldn’t
let me. at was hard. Also, being
in Atlanta was odd because it wasn’t
shut down at all. We were shut down
in April, and then opened back up in
May. Some of my friends from high
school would ask me if I wanted to go
out with them some nights, as if there
wasn’t a global pandemic happening.
CE: What’s your favorite book?
HD: I really like the Harry Poer
series. I read them so much growing
up, and I think J.K. Rowling is such
a good author. I love any trashy teen
romance novel.
CE: What about vlogging and making
videos appeals to you?
HD: I like to think that my life is
prey interesting. I think most days
I have something dumb or exciting
happen to me which would be cool
to have on video to look back on. I
take the Metro to work in the lab on
the medical campus and I see a lot
of strange things that would be fun-
ny to have on video. e lile fun-
ny elements in my life just make me
think vlogging is cool. Also it’s crazy
how some people are so famous from
vlogging these days. Girls will record
themselves making iced coee on Tik
Tok and people think it’s incredible
and they get a million likes.
Herbert Zhou
Junior
Major: Math+CS and PNP and a
Minor in Music
Herbert is an incredibly intriguing per-
son. He’s lived in Shanghai his whole
life, coming to WashU for his freshman
year. While he doesn’t have any stick-
ers on his laptop, he says that if he were
to add any stickers, he would choose to
“juxtapose Monet’s Rouen Cathedral
with a formal symbol– demonstrating
his nature of arts and sciences.”
CE: What was it like growing up in
China and then moving to the US for
college?
HZ: More and more international
students are taking college in Amer-
ica, and I’m just one of them. China
and the US are two very dierent
countries. e most interesting part
for me is that my belief system has
changed based on what I’ve experi-
enced in both countries. Everyone
knows China is famous for its Com-
munist policies. I was the class mon-
itor in my middle school in China.
By that point I kind of understood
what Communism truly means. I en-
joyed being a class monitor because
it was my chance to contribute to my
community and make my communi-
ty more ecient, so I felt like I was
helping the Communist culture. Aer
coming to America, I got to experi-
ence another social structure. Peo-
ple here in the US are encouraged to
have their own voices and individual
identities, but that is not the case in
China. I had never thought about my
own identity and voice before I came
to America.
CE: If you’re encouraged to have your
own voice and identity here in the US,
what are you encouraged to be in Chi-
na?
HZ: We aren’t very individualized in
China. Growing up in China felt like
a circular process. At the end of pri-
mary school we were encouraged to
take hard classes to get into a good
middle school, and then the same
thing for high school. e people I
grew up with are more alike one an-
other than here in America, where
everyone has their own identity.
CE: Are you currently in China?
HZ: No, I’m in St. Louis right now.
CE: Have you lived in China during
quarantine?
HZ: No, but my family has.
CE: What has life been like for them?
HZ: So my family is currently in
Shanghai, and it’s not that dangerous
right now there, because the Chinese
government has made lots of policies
to control the pandemic. I actually
think the Chinese policies are more
ecient than what America is do-
ing. Shanghai is doing well, but some
smaller cities are struggling. I read
this morning that 500 doctors were
sent to a smaller city to help with the
pandemic, and China tends to act
quickly to control covid.
CE: What are some other examples of
how China is mandating quarantine?
HZ: ere’s a social app called
WeChat, which everyone in China
has. Everyone gets a QR code with